Awning, marquee, or the like



L. T. THOMPSON AWNING, MARQUEE, OR THE LIKE Aug. 21, 1951 Filed Sept. 22, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Luther Z l zompson I INVENTOR.

L. T. THOMPSON AWNING, MARQUEE, OR THE LIKE Aug. 21, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1947 Lu l'her 7. 1 110772178011, INVENTOR BY W Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES i fi FFfl CE P2565332 2 AWNI G;manounnion riimnia :Luth'er '1; Thompson, -mn'xmcity ila. "Applications'fitenilier 22,fieitfseit mo ifisff'i1 long useful life, without any maintenance ex- A further object of the invention is 'to provide a device of thischaracter with'ventilating means "which wil1 prevent the segregation of heated air and -Wi11 obviate any condensation and conse- 'quent drippage. An a'n'cillary object is .toiprovide a'structure of thisecharacter withan integral g-utter arrangementabout its external sides in order to carry on rainwater or the like.

:Still another object is ito vprovide a rigid I struc- 23 Claims. (015M755) v r nemes s: an'g-l abbve a orw in'dow opening in such wan.

The marquee or awning structure ls :eappeetea mainly upen a- -suppott rrame eem rising as best "filiownin -Fig. 2 a=vertical rod or -bar l 2, preferably remand-adapted to be bolted -or otherwise secured to Wall Hi sand outwa'rdly exlax nding angle ironlnembers I 4 and 1 l e;the 'former lyin'g approximately horizontally an'cl 'for i'ng togther'with "the lnclined bar 5 l 6 and=-ba'r -I a rigid fo triangular support. It will be 'u'nderstood th'at tnese ear -frarnes are duplicated 1 at the ap osite '"en'd of 'the*awiiing striicture, and that-additional such supports may be provided in 'spaeed lpo'sitl'b'ri's along th'e 'le'ngth of -the awning. int (Zending le'ngthwise df' the' awni-ng, and-:restin'g dipon th'e ineliriedfbar niember s f6, are two er more enema-e1 members M o'f square or'o'ss 'setion. -Byir-ig nipon and supported by these enamels-lawman 'a't as s' t'ringers are a plural- 9,0 --lt pr spa'eed up'wardly cpenanetallie channels or pan-lmrmin members 2 0. :As best shown in wigs. 3 anii 4, panelteratin members z o are-"provi deii' with iiiturned fia'nges: 22, and -the adjacent 'side wall's of adjacentipanel members are secured ture of this character in which the main panel i'n" 'fixetlfirelation tooneanother by -engagement forming elements are assembled in such a way as to allow for normal thermal contraction and expansion without producing any distortion or fracture of the parts. An additional .and -very important object is to provide ,astructurewhich can be assembled into a functionally integral unit by the use of only simple hand tools, and whose'parts have a substantial salvage value.

The above and other objects and advantages of my invention will bestbe understo'od by referring to the following detailed specification ofal 'pref'erred embodiment thereof, and i to the :accompa'nying drawings, in which:

-Fig. l-is -a fragmentary isometric view oflthe improve'd marquee -or awnin '2 l Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary isometric view of a portion of the structure, parts being broken away,

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view taken on line 44- of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged isometric view of a locking key used in the invention, and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the structure, taken approximately along line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, numeral l0 designates a vertical buildin wall or the like upon which is secured my improved awn- "30 everitlfe ends of flanges 22,- as'=indicated 3at 2! in Fi'g. 3,fito'-wa;terproof the ends ofitheip'anehstrips. =Prlo'r t'o the application of the drive stri-ps' to the assemblwhowevemthere are :inserted in stringer #liha'n'riels I 8- a series .of lockingikeysei flofLthe form sho n in -F ig. -5 -a's comprising 'a head portion 30, shankiz ortioner containing a slot 34 'lwhich *d'ivi'ds the ektremity 0f the l key into 2a pair ;of *ibendable tabs lorzfingers-rali. These 1 keys are lokzaited along hannel's 18, by :sliding :their head i'xito the channels, inisu'ch order that asske'yam lies' :lsetween each gpair sot satljace'nt jpanel J members 20, along the length of each of the stringer channels l8. Tabs or fingers 38 are then bent down respectively in opposite directions so that one such tab lies upon the top flange of each of the adjacent panel members 20.

At this stage of the assembly, drive strips 24 are forced along the adjacent top flanges of the panel members 20, and hence around and about the bent-down tabs or fingers 36 of the keys 28, providing a. smooth and neat appearance of the awning structure, as well as preventing dislodgement of the keys 28, and securing the panel members into an integrated roof structure. It will be ing or marquee, usually of course in position 5 understood that the thicknesses of the parts are necessarily exaggerated in the drawings, for clarity of illustration, and that all of the parts ll, 20, 24 and 28 are preferably formed of sheet metal, for example of gauges of iron, aluminum or the like ordinarily used for roofing work, so that the presence of the bent down fingers 36 of keys 28 does not interfere with the application of the drive strips, the latter merely yielding sufficiently to accommodate this additional thickness, without actually distorting the material.

Returning now to Figs. 1 and 2, a gutter structure 38 surrounds the three sides of the awning or marquee, and is conveniently supported along the front edge by engagement of a flange 40 on its inner wall (see especially the enlarged view of Fig. 6) by reversely turned tabs 42 each comprising a continuation of the bottom surface of one of the panel forming strips or channels 20. The lateral or side portions of the gutter may be supported directly from horizontal frame support pieces M as by bolting or equivalent fastening means.

In order to provide a neat and finished appearance to the awning or marquee, as well as to provide a surface for embellishment by a sign, street number or the like, a skirt 44 surrounds the lower edge of the marquee, and preferably (as shown in Figs. 2 and 6) is secured to the gutter portion by having its upper edge folded over the front wall of said gutter. A ceiling panel 46 may be provided within the skirt 44, as by being bolted, riveted or otherwise fastened to an inturned flange 48 of the skirt 44.

Side panels such as panel 50 (Fig. 1) may be seecured to the angle irons 12, I4, and IS- to provide additional protection against sun and rain, and these are desirably provided with louvres each comprising a slot protected by an overhanging out-struck portion 52 of the panel. In order to obtain maximum ventilation and to prevent condensation, it is desirable that panel members 20 stop somewhat short of the wall I at their upper ends, as indicated at 56 in Fig. 2 (approximately one inch is a desirable gap at this point), and a protective flashing 58 may be secured to the wall to cover this gap and prevent the entry of rain. A usual form of downspout 60 may be connected with gutter 38 to carry off rain collected thereb y. It will be noted that the use-of locking ,keys

to secure the panel members 20 in place on their stringers l8, and the use of drive strips 24 to secure adjacent panel members to one another, not only facilitate assembly of the awning or marquee with a minimum amount of labor, but enable a structure of any desired length to be fabricated quickly without the formation of specially designed and intricate parts, since stringers l8 may readily be cut to the required lengths and a desired number of panels 20 secured thereto rapidly and without requiring welding or special tools. Moreover, the parts and components are largely salvageable, which contributes further to reduced cost in adding to or modifying existing awning or marquee arrangements. Stringer channels l8 may obviously be bolted or otherwise fastened to angle irons 16 to provide rigidity and permanence at a minimum cost.

All of the component parts of this structure can be readily fabricated with usual sheet-metal tools and techniques, and the resulting structure besides being neat in appearance, is well ventilated, light in weight and of a minimum cost both as to installation and maintenance.

i made by those skilled in this art without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an awning structure a C-shaped channel member, a plurality of similar members overlying said first member with their closed sides in contact with the open side of said first member, a series of T-shaped keys having their heads engaged in the channel of said first named member and having their shanks projecting through the open face, each key lying between and abutting a pair of said second named members, each key having bendable portions overlying the adjacent upper faces of each pair of said second named members and C-shaped driving strips embracing adjacent flanges of each pair of said secondary members and overlying the bendable portions of said keys.

2. In an awning structure as set forth in claim 1, at least two of said first named members spaced and mutually parallel and being joined at their extremities to a pair of supporting members underlying said first named members.

3. In an awning structure according to claim 1 having one end of each drive strip folded over the extremities of the channel flanges embraced thereby.

LUTHER T. THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 20,975 Houseman c Jan. 10; 1939 453,470 Geiger et a1. June 2, 1891 537,569 Flatau Apr. 16, 1895 615,178 Hooper Nov. 29, 1898 1,956,850 Bishop et al. May 1, 1934 2,340,911 Urbain Feb. 8, 1944 2,441,081 Perry et a1 May 4, 1948 

